Violent crime statistics are up in Kincardine, while property crime and drug crimes have come down.
Detachment Commander, Inspector Krista Miller says reports of sexual assault in Kincardine increased almost 82% from 2018 when there were 11 reports, compared to last year when there were 20.
Miller says she attributes the increased reports to the #MeToo movement where people and victims are “feeling more comfortable coming forward.”
She points out a lot of the 20 reported cases in 2019 are “historical in nature (with) some of them, 30-years-old.”
Inspector Miller says if you take the entire area serviced by South Bruce OPP, the trends are much the same as in Kincardine specifically.
Sexual assault reports are up but there is a decrease in property crime reports which she attributes to the work done by officers in their investigations and arrests.
In Kincardine alone, property crime occurrences dropped almost 32% in 2019, compared to 2018.
Drug crimes dropped a whopping 80% but it's thought the legalization of marijuana may have had something to do with that.
Over the past year, the South Bruce OPP have responded to over 2,000 calls for service.
The largest number belongs to 9-1-1 misdials either on purpose or cell phone butt dials.